Happy Monday! This week I'm linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It.

My husband was off of work last week, so we took a few day trips and I didn't have much time at home to create. Today I have only one project to share.

Every year on the first day of school, I have a Welcome to the Greatest School Year Ever party. I have a welcome sign on the door, balloons around the room, and goodie bags waiting for them on their desks. It really gets them excited for their year and alleviates first day jitters. (I plan to share that whole idea soon). One of the things I'm setting out for them this year is Crazy Straws that I purchased at Target in the party favor section with a cute welcome topper attached. You can also attach Pixy Stix or pencils instead. I used double sided tape to attach them.

If you would like to make a set for yourself, you can grab the freebie printable toppers here. It's included in my Greatest School Year Ever pack that has a paper bag scrapbook, printables for goodie bags, and other back to school activities for a perfect start to the new school year.

Happy Monday! I'm so excited to be sharing my Monday Made It projects this week over at 4th Grade Frolics. Come check out what I've been working on and grab some freebies! Be sure to link up your projects too! Have a great week! :)

It's summer, my favorite time of year when Tara from 4th Grade Frolic's Monday Made It linky party is weekly! I'm actually able to keep up with blogging now because I don't have lesson plans and correcting hanging over my head!

I'm in LOVE with my first MMI I'm sharing with you today! I put these Close Reading Tool Boxes together which were created by the amazing Rebecca at Create Teach Share.

Rebecca's blog was the first teacher blog I had ever stumbled upon a few years ago. I found her on Pinterest through a scrapbooker who mentioned her on a blog post. I was in awe that teachers actually shared so many ideas and freebies. I became hooked, and the rest is history! Rebecca continues to share her ideas, freebies and resources. She created these amazing Close Reading Toolboxes for her reading groups next year. I was excited to run out to Hobby Lobby and grab the container and photo case Rebecca used. She did a blog post about these Close Reading Toolboxes, so you can click on the link above to download your own set of printables and learn how she uses them. I plan to use them for my guided reading groups, so I only made six of them. They will make our guided reading time extra special, and I have a feeling my students will take close reading more seriously. Here are a few more pictures of them.

My second MMI is something you probably have already seen floating around Instagram and Pinterest. I desperately needed to do this since my family thinks that any charger and wire sitting around is free game. I've seen the idea to wrap washi tape around the charger, but I needed a way to distinguish the wires too. I found this washi tape at Hobby Lobby, and it came in a pack with a thick washi and thinner, solid colored washi. I simply wrapped the thicker washi around the charger, and the thinner washi fits perfectly around the wire. I assigned each family member their favorite color, and now we can easily tell who each charger and plug belongs to. Finally, an end to "finders, keepers" in this house!

Be sure to link up your projects with Tara for MMI anytime this week! There are always so many inspirational ideas (and freebies) shared!

Welcome to the June edition of Pick 3! Where did the month of May go? For me, and I'm sure you can relate, it was a whirlwind! I'm not sure how I survived, but I did. And now I've enjoyed my first week of summer! This month, and the entire summer, we bring you teaching and summer-themed pins. Since teaching is always on my brain, I'm sharing my favorite teaching related pins.

Click on the Photo Above to See the Original Pin

I love the idea of these photo gifts for the students, so I made similar ones for them this year. My school has the perfect backdrop for these photos, since the outside is made entirely of red brick. I just typed over the photos with the students' favorites in PowerPoint and printed on photo paper. I included these along with their report cards.

Click on the Photo Above to See the Original Pin

Have you heard of Prodigy? My students were OBSESSED with it! They were constantly begging to go on it. I used it as a reward, even though it is academic since they are practicing math. I told my kiddos I would add new concepts for them over the summer so they could continue to practice. And did I mention it's FREE?!? All the more reason to sign up your class next year!

Click on the Photo Above to See the Original Pin

This idea is brilliant! The kids and I find so many lids, erasers, and other small items throughout the day. I always end up telling them to "put it on my desk." This is a great alternative. I've seen something similar for glue stick lids, but this would be perfect for the other random odds and ends that are lost in the classroom.

Well those are my pins for this month. I'm always amazed at the new-to-me pins the bloggers share who link up with us! If you are on summer break, enjoy it! If you aren't quite there yet, good luck surviving the end of the year craziness and enjoy your summer when it comes! :)

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This linky is hosted on the third of each month. We would love for you to join us!